Johnny Cash – The 1950s Live TV Appearances

Johnny Cash Live

This is why the Internet is awesome. Someone on YouTube took the time to compile every TV appearance that Cash made between 1955 and 1959. It says that it;s an “incomplete” collection but who cares. These 16 gems of musical history will satisfy.

Thanks to JohnnyCashfan66 for this.

1955 – Johnny Cash (Backstage in Oklahoma City)
1956 – So Doggone Lonesome (Grand Ole Opry)
1957 – Get Rhythm (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – Give My Love To Rose (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – Home of the Blues (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – I Walk the Line (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – So Doggone Lonesome (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – Next in Line (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1957 – Train of Love (Tex Riter’s Ranch Party)
1958 – Stay All Night & Next In Line (Country Style USA)
1958 – Give My Love to Rose (Country Style USA)
1958 – Home of the Blues & Stay All Night (Country Style USA)
1958 – Ballad of a Teenage Queen (American Bandstand)
1959 – All Over Again (March of Dimes)
1959 – Camptown Races (Bell Telephone Hour)
1959 – Don’t Take Your Guns to Town (Ed Sullivan Show)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2JhTmHhiqk

5 Americana Artists the Grand Ole Opry Should Induct

Old Crow Medicine Show

Following the ongoing trend of Music City tapping Americana music for source material and injecting some vibrant blood to an all but stagnant (but lucrative) genre, the old-time string band, Old Crow Medicine Show was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry by Opry member Marty Stuart during their concert at the Ohio Theatre in Cleveland, OH.

They will formally be inducted into the Opry at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Tues., Sept. 17.

In recent years Music Row has been looking to Americana music for new ideas, market trends and extending demographic appeal.

Sure the Opry has lost cred for ignoring great performers and casting out key members of the country music community (Hank Sr. anyone?) but it is an institution that provides a stage for broad exposure and, rightly or not, credibility.

There’s is no magic formula the Opry uses to choose who is asked to join. It’s a mix of sound, commitment, (gasp) popularity and what the Opry calls “relationships.” Relationships like backing Darius Rucker on the Orey stage for Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel.”

Here are 5 Americana artists that, like Old Crow Medicine Show, would fit comfortably on the Opry stage.

The Dixie Chicks – Yeah I know, but the Chicks were always an Americana band to me. I know they and the country music industry had disagreements, but there’s no denying their positive (and lucrative) impact on the genre.

in 1986 Dwight Yoakam rescued country music from the Urban Cowboy blight and reminded people why it was fun, heartfelt and brave in the first place. Rarely has there been a better meeting of traditional and mainstream success then Yoakam? And he’s still going strong, though his new album, 3 Pears, isn’t up for CMA awards it’s up for Americana Music Awards.

Does any contemporary performer embody the sound, style and spirit of all that is great in country music more than Elizabeth Cook? The answer is no way. She’s a fan favorite and has been asked by the Opry to perform on their stage over 100 (!) times. It’s time to make it official.

For 11 albums over a 20-year career Robbie Fulks has been playing smart trad-leaning country music. Sure he hd some choice words for music row (made plain in his song “Fuck This Town.”) But Fulks disdain for the industry and love for the musical heritage is exactly what the Opry needs to gain cred.

As a member of The Byrds Gram Parsons played the Opry stage on March 1968. The band was asked to play play two Merle Haggard songs (“Sing Me Back Home” and “Life In Prison.”) The first song song won over the skeptical crowd (LONGHAIRS!) And Parsons (who was a big Merle Haggard fan) substituted “Life In Prison” for his own “Hickory Wind,” from The Byrds then current album “Sweethearts of the Rodeo,” in honor of his Grandmother, a huge Opry fan. As expected the management were pissed but the crowd and some of that night’s performers, loved it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjGtEmQ5Co

Look Out! Jimbo Mathus – Run Devil Run [Video Exclusive]

jimbo mathus - run devil run

Mississippi-native Jimbo Mathus knows a thing or two about marrying theater and music. As a founder of the Squirrel Nut Zippers Mathus helped usher an unlikely swing resurgence of the 90s by deftly tapping into the style and energy of early-twentieth century American music and moded it out for millions of late twentieth-century fans.

The video “Run Devil Run” has Mathus portraying a backwoods preacher filled with the spirit as he and the Tri-State Coalition slink and slide with tribal drums, moody organ and punctuated guitar in a variation of the blues.

Sin and salvation are plumbed as images are layered over whimsically creepy Fleischer Brothers style animation.

The song slowly simmers like a southern summer until the preacher wrestles with Ol Scratch. himself who seems to be a feeble opponent. Though it could be a ruse. He is the King of Lies after all.

Mathus says of the video: “Run Devil Run” offers a rare glimpse inside a genuine North Missisippi shack seance hosted by Repent Films and Capt Catfish himself. It features a sacred plumb bob pilfered from Solomon’s tomb. You’ll be real surprised when you see the thing we conjure up at the end! Better get prayed up before you watch this!”

Feel the heat, smell the brimstone and pray for swampland salvation.

“Run Devil Run” can be found on Mathus’ latest release “White Buffalo” on Fat Possum Records.

Americana Music Support at the Late Show with David Letterman [VIDEO]

David Letterman

David Letterman, and his Late Show booking crew, have been long-time enthusiastic supporters of country and Americana music. Recently it seems like Dave has invited a roots artist to play every night of the week, and this is great new for the artists needing exposure and fans looking for great music.

And as Saving Country Music tells it, the Late Show was the one that reached out to many of these artists to perform on the program. Many of them, like dale Watson and Shove;s and Rope, getting national exposure for the first time.

Here’s to you, Dave and crew, for championing great roots and Americana music like the clips below.

Ryan Adams – Lucky Now – December 5, 2011

Shovels & Rope – Birmingham – David Letterman January 30, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfPnGEgtDXI

Elizabeth Cook – If I Had My Way, I’d Tear This Building Down – March, 14 2013

Dale Watson & His Lonestars – “I Lie When I Drink” – June 24, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcRTTy0Epg

Ray Wylie Hubbard – Mother Blues – David Letterman – January 9, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r92RkIKm6Wc

Marty Stuart “Country Boy Rock & Roll” June 29, 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcJ80pKqsA0

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit “Codeine” – November 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUzc7cUaPWs

Pokey LaFarge – “Central Time” – 16 July, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=82hWDlADJDg

Tom Russell with Andrew Hardin – “Tonight We Ride” – 2009

Justin Townes Earle – “Harlem River Blues” – January 5, 2011

Andrew Bird with Tift Merritt and Alan Hampton – “If I Needed You” (Townes Van Zandt) – 10/30/2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8TdDJe6-xY

Jamey Johnson with Alison Krauss – “Make the World Go Away” 10/12/2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu-hSTup6CQ

Steve Earle – “Copperhead Road” – 1988

Emmylou Harris , Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch – 2001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8YEgANLow

Willie Nelson – “Always On My Mind” – date?

Earl Scruggs and Friends – Foggy Mountain Breakdown – May, 12/07

Americana Music Association Announces Showcase Line-up

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Building on the already excellent initial lineup announcement the Nashville-based Americana Music Association has released has released the full roster of artists performing during the event.

Some of the additions that stand out to me are roots-rockers Shooter Jennings and Austin Lucas, alt.country stalwarts Bottle Rockets and Ashley Monroe who apparently has no problem working both the Americana and Music Row sides of the fence (good!) One performer I’m bummed to see missing from the roster is Jason Isbell (Though his talented better half, Amanda Shires, is on the list.) There might be scheduling conflicts with his current tour supporting the excellent “Southeastern.”

The vagueness of Americana’s boundaries allows a richness and diversity within a shared source and vision. it’s what legend, and scheduled performer, Darrell Scott describes positively as a “hard-to-define place.”

the selections show a broad range of diversity and excellence the of the genre. Great to see many Casa Twang favorites represented as well.

The AMA has created a Spotify playlist of the performers on the 2013 bill.

The 14th annual event will take place in Nashville, Sept. 18-22. I’ll be there. hope you are too!

Americana Music Festival & Conference Showcase Performing Artistt
Alanna Royale
Amanda Shires
American Aquarium
Amy Speace
Andrew Combs
Andrew Leahey & the Homestead
Aoife O’Donovan
Ashley Monroe
Austin Lucas
Band of Heathens
Bear’s Den
Ben Miller Band
Bhi Bhiman
Billy Bragg
Black Prairie
Bobby Rush
Bottle Rockets
Brian Wright
Chelsea Crowell
Claire Lynch
Daniel Romano
Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien
Dash Rip Rock
David Bromberg
Delbert McClinton
Della Mae
Donna the Buffalo
Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors
DUGAS
Elephant Revival
Farewell Drifters
Field Report
Frank Fairfield
Hillbilly Killers
Holly Williams
Houndmouth
Howe Gelb
Howlin’ Brothers
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Infamous Stringdusters
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound
JD McPherson
Joe Fletcher & the Wrong Reasons
Joe Nolan
John Fullbright
Jonny Fritz
Josh Rouse
Joy Kills Sorrow
Judah & the Lion
Justin Townes Earle
Kim Richey
Kruger Brothers
Laura Cantrell
Lera Lynn
Levi Lowrey
Lindi Ortega
Lisa Marie Presley
Luella & the Sun
Mandolin Orange
Matt Mays
Max Gomez
McCrary Sisters
Melody Pool
Mustered Courage
My Darling Clementine
Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers
Nikki Lane
Noah Gunderson
Nora Jane Struthers
North Mississippi Allstars
NQ Arbuckle
Old Man Luedecke
Over The Rhine
Parker Millsap
Patrick Sweany
Paul Kelly
Peter Bruntnell
Phil Madeira
Pokey LaFarge
Randall Bramlett
Rayland Baxter
Richard Thompson
Rosanne Cash
Rose Cousins
Sam Doores, Riley Downing & the Tumbleweeds
Samantha Crain
Shakey Graves
Shannon McNally
Shel
Shooter Jennings
Sons of Fathers
Spirit Family Reunion
St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Steelism
Steep Canyon Rangers
Stewart Mann & the Statesboro Revue
Sturgill Simpson
Susan Cowsill
The Bushwackers
The Del-Lords
The Devil Makes Three
The Greencards
The Lone Bellow
The Lost Brothers
The Stray Birds
The Westbound Rangers
The White Buffalo
Tim Easton
Tommy Malone
Treetop Flyers
Two Man Gentleman Band
Uncle Lucius
Water Liars
Wheeler Brothers
Willie Sugarcaps
Willy Mason
Wood Brothers

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 14 – Della Mae, David Ramirez, Nora Jane Struthers, John Moreland

TNPodcast

This may be the best Twang Nation podcast yet (yeah, I know I always say that. But this time it’s true!)

We have fantasticly spirited bluegrass of newcomers Della Mae. Heartfelt folk with singer/ songwriters David Ramirez, Ashleigh Flynn,Andrew Duhon and John Moreland.

Hurray for the Riff Raff offers a beautiful rendition of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” and Mother Merey and the Black Dirt and Defibulators bring new meaning to hillbilly bliss

We conclude with Bill Monroe and Steve Earl doing Monroe and Peter Rowan’s “Walls of Time” from his upcoming Warner Brothers box set.

ON EDIT: One correction to the podcast, I say that Mother Merey and the Black Dirt’s album is titled “A Million Stars.” That’s the title of the Ashleigh Flynn release. The correct title for Mother Merey and the Black Dirt’s album is “Down to the River.”

Also, I mistakenly refer to the new Donna the Buffalo as “My Dearest Darkest Neighbor.” The name of the album is actually “Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday/” “My Dearest Darkest Neighbor.” is thr name of the upcoming Hurray for the Riff Raff album.

Sorry for the mix up folks.

As always support local music and thanks for listening.

This podcast is dedicated to the great Chet Flippo.

1. Della Mae – “Empire”
2 David Ramirez – “The Bad Days”
3 Mother Merey and the Black Dirt – “Down to the River”
4 Ashleigh Flynn – “New Angel in Heaven”
5 Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line – “Barn Dance”
6 Andrew Duhon – “Sidestep Your Grave”
7 Laura Cortese – “I Am The House”
8 Donna the Buffalo – “Don’t Know What We’ve Got”
9 Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Jealous Guy”
10 Defibulators – “Cackalacky”
11 John Moreland – “God’s Medicine”
12 Steve Earle With Bill Monroe – “Walls Of Time”

Dale Watson & His Lonestars – “I Lie When I Drink” – David Letterman 6-24-13

Dale Watson

Davis Letterman continues his support for roots music by inviting Austin’s favorite son , Dale Watson, an his crackerjack band The Lonestars on last night’s show. Dale and the boys performed a cut of his excellent new release “El Rancho Azul.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BHcRTTy0Epg

Americana Music is the New Country Music

Screen shot 2013-05-31 at 2.48.34 PM

I’m not sure if I was the first to coin the term but I’m pretty sure i was the first to tweet it – that’s so country it’s Americana.

By that I mean as Music City continues to do what it’s always done, chase trends to broaden consumer acceptance, fill radio slots and asses in arena seats, and make truckloads of money, who looks after the legacy of the music? The legacy of twang, soul and grit that Rodgers, the Carters and Hank Sr. left us? The focus on the song as deep, personal expressions and not just target-marketed laundry lists? Ladies and gents it’s Americana straight up.

sure music Row still determines the brand “Country Music” but they don’t won the legacy or spirit. Tom Petty hit the nail squarely in the noggin when he described contemporary country music as “Bad rock with a fiddle. Zing! While the rhinestone cowboys chase hits and eschew tradition (Blake!) the real soul of country music has found a new home in the Americana camp. Now by Americana I also include the underground, muddy roots acts as well, as I believe a lot of the passion and blue-collar core is often found on that side. Here are a few videos to make my case.

Legacy: in their golden years no one in Music Row bothered to return phone calls to Johnny Cash and Porter Wagoner who were still viable a, had songs, and wanted to work. It took hip-hop/rock producer Rick Rubin and musician/producer Marty Stuart to work with these legendary men, respectively, and understand their storied place in music history. Working with their own label (Rubin) and an L.A. rock label (Epitaph) allowed these legends to produce some of their best work at the end of their lives and leave this world with dignity and fans with a few more treasures. Hell, even country music legend Lee Ann Womack teamed up with Americana stalwart Buddy Miller to stretch her wings.

Johnny Cash – “Hurt” (Nine Inch Nails)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

Porter Wagoner – “Committed to Parkview”

Leann Womack & Buddy Miller – “Don’t Tell Me”

Soul – At it’s core country music is soul music. It bleeds life in common stories plaintive and wondrous. Here are some performers that reflect that rough beauty.

Robert Ellis – “Cemetery”

Jason Eady – “AM Country Heaven”

Elizabeth Cook – “Mama’s Prayers”
www.twangnation.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?post=5944&action=edit

Twang and Grit – Musicianship has always been the stock and trade of country music , but it used to be more than a backdrop for party anthems. Here are some that are tearing it up without dumbing it down.

Sturgill Simpson – “You Can Have The Crown / Some Days”

Whitey Morgan and the 78’s – Cocaine Train

Turnpike Troubadours – “Before The Devil Knows We’re Dead”

Dale Watson – “I Lie When I Drink”

A Song of Perseverance – An Interview With Jim Lauderdale

JimLauderdale1

If you’re a struggling musician I suggest you take a look at the career of Jim Lauderdale. Between early setbacks as a Bluegrass banjo player, and being marginalized in Music Row there were plenty of opportunities to chuck his guitar in the gutter and call it quits. But he persevered and used his songwriting as a musical dowsing rod to move him always forward toward unexpected and exciting places.

If the Americana genre didn’t already exist it would have to be created for Lauderdale. He’s worked in multiple genres (Bluegrass, country, rock, soul) with multiple artists (George Jones, Ralph Stanley, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and more), but the music has always been grounded in honesty with a twist of risk. This will to be daring, attention to legacy, while pushing forward has allowed Lauderdale to become something you don’t see music in the music industry, unique.

He’s now a Grammy winning singer/songwriter, the subject of a crowd-sourced biopic (Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts)
He hosts, along with Buddy Miller, “The Buddy & Jim Show” Saturdays 10 pm ET on SiriusXM Outlaw Country. He also hosts the “Music City Roots: Live from the Loveless Cafe”, weekly Americana music show broadcast live on WSM from the Loveless Barn on Highway 100 in Nashville. He is also the MC for the Americana Music Awards and Honors show in Nashville where his catch-phrase “Now THAT’S Americana” is as much of a delight as the stellar performances on the storied Ryman Auditorium stage.

I talked to Lauderdale, through spotty reception, on the road to Nashville the day after his birthday performance at the Music City Roots spin-off, “Scenic City Roots, in Chattanooga Tennessee

——————————————————–

Twang Nation: Jim? How are you today?

Jim Lauderdale: Just fine. Driving on a beautiful, crisp spring day heading back to Nashville from Chattanooga Tennessee.

TN: Happy belated birthday, You share a birth with Bob Harris ( “‘Whispering Bob Harris” the legendary is the host of the BBC 2 music program The Old Grey Whistle Test, and a supporter of country and roots music)

JL: Really? It’s also George Shuffler’s birthday, who played guitar for the Stanley Brothers.

TN: Cool. So you’re taking some time off from your tour supporting the “Buddy and Jim” album. How’s that going?

JL: It’s been great! We too some time off because Buddy is producing the Wood Brothers and he also co-produces the music for the TV show Nashville with T Bone Burnett. He’s got a pretty full plate most of the time. Our next date is in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall. I love playing that space.

TN: I’ll be there. The first time I saw you and Buddy working with the new material it was at last year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It was a morning slot but the place was still full.

JL: I love that festival. Warren Hellman has done so much for the community. He’ll be missed.

TN: True. So let’s visit your childhood in Troutman, North Carolina. Your father was a minister and your mother was a music teacher. How did this shape you musically?

JL: I believe it helped to train my ears. They were both great singers, so it was a combination of hearing a lot of church music. Hearing my mother, who was a choir director at the church, a chorus teacher, and a piano teacher, I was hearing stuff all the time. My older sister was the first to start buying records like the Beatles when I was in the first grade. At the time music was just exploding and so much was coming from the radio and in North Carolina radio then was a mixture of rock and roll, soul music like Stax and Motown, and then there were peripheral country stations where Bluegrass was being played. So there was just so much great music being played and available. I think Buddy and i share a lot of the same influences. that’s how all these influences made me want to sing. I started singing really early and then started playing drums for a few years when I was 11 and then, when I was 13, I started playing blues harmonica. When I was 15 I started playing the banjo and getting more into Bluegrass music. I always wanted to do a Bluegrass record but it took me a long time to get a deal to do one. When it happened I got to do it with Ralph Stanley and his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys (1999’s I Feel Like Singing Today)

TN: Not bad company to keep for your inaugural Bluegrass venture.

JL: That was kind of a dream because I grew up loving his work. I used to try and play banjo in his style and sing in a tenor like Ralph would. One of the best things to happen out of that was that I began writing with Robert Hunter (poet and lyricist for the Grateful Dead.) A friend of mine, Rob Bleetstein, put me in touch with him in the Bay Area. i knew that Robert and Jerry Garcia were huge Stanley Brothers’ fans, so that’s how I started writing with Robert and since then we’ve created 4 albums. The last two were Bluegrass of stuff we’ve done together. I have an upcoming album with the North Mississippi Allstars coming out in the fall and it has stuff that Robert and I wrote as well. So, even though it took me a long tie to get something out in that world, it was worth the wait because of all the good things that have happened.

TN: Making up for lost time.

JL: Right. And the same with Buddy. We had met back in New York in the early 80’s. We were both living there and both had country bands going and Buddy, to me, had the best band there. There was a nice country scene going on in New York at the time. There were about 5 bars in New York like the Lone Star Cafe that featured country music. So there was a lot of work. Eventually we both ended up on the west coast and started playing gigs together. Then Buddy came to Nashville first and ended up playing with Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. His career really took off! So we’ve known each other for 33 years and have talked about doing a record for the past 17 years so this new album was also worth the wait. Our schedules just wouldn’t allow it. But last year we started this radio show last summer on SiriusXM Outlaw Country (The Buddy & Jim Show , Saturdays 10 pm ET) and that started moving things toward us sitting down and writing material. It happened pretty quickly, we spent a few days in pre-production and wrote some stuff but we cut the album in three days in his home studio. He produced the album and we’re really happy with it. I love playing with Buddy, he always makes me smile.

TN: There’s a song you wrote that was covered by George Strait called The King of Broken Hearst. It’s got a great story.

JL: I moved to L.A. partly to be in the same atmosphere that Gram Parsons had been in. There was this story that came from (former rock ‘n’ roll groupie and author) Pamela Des Barres, who was a friend of his, who said he had this L.A. party and was playing George Jones records. These people had never heard him (Jones) and he started crying. he said “That’s the king of broken hearts.” It was one of those times when an idea just comes to you. I play that song all the time and I love it.

TN: Gram is seen as the patron saint of the Americana genre and , I believe, you and Buddy have earned a place at that table. With your work with the Americana Music Awards and Music City Roots would you consider yourself an ambassador of Americana?

JL: Oh, I don’t know about that. But I’m certainly happy it’s out there. The guy I mentioned before, Rob Bleetstein, helped to coin there term (along with Jon Grimson of Nashville) for a trade publication that’s no longer around called Gavin Report. It was like Billboard and R&R (Radio & Records) magazine. They needed a chart for rootsy American music and Rob said “How about Americana?” So that put a name on it. But to me it’s just great that Americana allows a broad umbrella for roots music – Blues, Bluegrass, folk, rock, country – music that is not overproduced and it’s all connected, And it’s a place that, in his later years, someone like Johnny Cash can get played on the radio. And Merle Haggard, and folks like Guy Clark and Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and jimmie Dale Gilmore. Stuff that’s too rootsy for mainstream radio. it’s nice to have a place where people can be recognized.

TN: You’ve worked in the Music Row world and the Americana world and been successful in both. What do you think contributes to your success to work in both of those environments?

JL: Well I had plans but things would work out a different that what I thought. It was accidental in some ways. I wanted to make Blue grass records as a teenager, but it never worked out. Then in my early 30s I finally got a record contract in the country genre. But that record was too country at the time to be accepted in 1988. Dwight Yoakam’s producer and guitarist Pete Anderson did it with me (The unreleased CBS album that later appeared on an overseas label as Point of No Return.) My next album wasn’t as traditional but it was pretty far out there. It was co-produced by Rodney Crowell and John Leventhal (1991’s Planet of Love) Even though that album didn’t have a lot of commercial success, 8 of the 10 songs went on to be recorded by other people like George Strait. So that too me into that world of songwriting though my plan was to have a successful career with my own records. I kept putting out my own records and, when it wouldn’t work out, the only way to rise above of the disappointment was to write myself out of it. I still had a contract for a few more majors, but I started doing some independent labels and was more eclectic. Bluegrass with country mixed with R&B ad soul. The work I’m doing with the North Mississippi Allstars I did with Robert Hunter is more blues, rock and soul. I’m also trying to finish up a stripped down acoustic record that I’m writing with Robert. He’s really important in my like as far as music, so I want to keep that going.

TN: Speaking of Robert Hunter lest year you were in the Bay Area with the American Beauty Project. How did that come about?

JL: Those two albums (Grateful Dead’s) Working Man’s Dead and American Beauty opened up a door in my spirit when I heard them. All the things I’d done before – country, Bluegrass, rock – came together in those two records. To me they were like the Gram Parsons solo albums with Emmylou, those records are touchstones. The New York Guitar Festival which was put together by David Spellman, each year, would choose a different album and then singers and guitar players would play a song from that record. A few year’s ago they chose American Beauty and it went over really well. The singer Catherine Russell, Ollabelle, Larry Campbell and his wife Teresa Williams became the core of the American Beauty project which we took around the country. We still do it occasionally and will probably do some more shows in the future. It’s always a lot of fun.

TN: Tell me about your work with the roots-rock band Donna the Buffalo.

JL: I met them at the Newport Folk Festival while opening for Lucinda Williams on her “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” tour. I met this group of folks that were really friendly, but I had missed their show earlier in the day. We made this friendship and we then jammed together at Merlefest in North Carolina. They then invited me to play their festival that they put on in the summer and offered to back me up during my set. So over the years we’ve worked festivals and sat in with each other. I started to write songs for all of us to do and when i had an album’s worth we went into the studio and did it (2003’s Wait Til Spring) We still do stuff when we can. They’ve got a new album coming out in June which I’ve heard and it’s fantastic (tonight Tomorrow & Yesterday – June 18) They are one of my favorite bands as an audience member and I love to sit in with them. We have a few new songs we’ve written but i need some more material to do another record.

TN: Any other new artists that have caught your ear?

JL: There’s a lady that just moved to Nashville, Lera Lynn. There’s another band that just moved from L.A. to Nashville called HoneyHoney that I like a lot. There”s a songwriter named Ryan Tanner I think is really good. And there’s a guy in North Carolina named Daniel Justin Smith that I think is really good. There’s no shortage of new, young singer, songwriter and pickers that are acoustically influenced and have their own style of country and roots music. I’m really encouraged by that. When i host the Music City Roots showcase it gives me an opportunity to be exposed to new performers. There was a band on the other night out of Birmingham, Alabama called St Paul and the Broken Bones. They are a kind of soul review kind of band and they are just out of this world. There’s a woman called Sara Petite out of San Diego who I like a lot. I also love Shovels and Rope, Robert Ellis , Max Gomez and the Milk Carton Kids.

TN: Who would you like to write music with someone that you haven’t?

JL: Gosh, I wish I could work with Eric Clapton. I love his work. I would also like to work with Keith Richards. I got to sing harmony with him on the song Hickory Wind on a Gram Parsons tribute called “Return to Sin City.” Norah Jones was on that, I’d like to work with her. I did a song with John Leventhal called Planet of Love that was pitched to Ray Charles to do with Norah Jones, but that didn’t happen before he passed away. I always wanted to work with Doc Pomus before he passed. And I always wanted to do something with Jerry Garcia and I’m sorry that didn’t happen. I’m slowly getting to work with a lot of folks I hold in high esteem. I got to write with Dan Pen and we’ve been working on some things in England with him and Nick Lowe’s great band. I got to song with George Jones years ago and that was a treat. You just never know in this up and down world of music.

TN: You’ve moved deftly between genres in this time, is there a musical era you would like to travel to and perform?

JL: The 60’s and early 70’s for the soul, country and rock music that was coming out and then the late 50’s early 60’s for Bluegrass. And the 50’s for Blues music. Being able to work in those times at the peak of the music would have been great.

TN: You’re a great singer, songwriter but your also a consummate showman. You’re very personable and funny on stage. Many have also taken note of your rhinestone bedecked clothing when you perform. How many suits do you have and where do you get them?

JL: Oh, I think i have 20 or 25 suits with shirts. I have gotten a few vintage pieces here and there, but i get most of my things new and custom made from Manuel (Cuevas) who is a designer and tailor here in Nashville that used to work with Nudie (Cohn) out of L.A. when he was a teenager. He’s still here producing things for people like Jack White.

TN: Thanks for your time and keep your eyes on the road.

JL: I will and take care.

The Red-Headed Stranger Turns 80 – Happy Birthday to Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson and Jerry Max Lane

The only time I’ve met Willie Nelson was backstage at Ft. Worth’s storied hanky-tonk, Billy-Bobs. This was in the mid-eighties and I was about 18 so I was more interested in Ozzy and Iron Maiden than I was seeing some country singer. Even one as iconic as Willie is.

The thing about that night wasn’t meeting Willie with some floozy fawning all over him. It was his presence onstage and the crowd. How they loved him and he loved them right back. They hung on every classic verse and he was glade to sing it for them as the family, with sister Bobbie on grand piano. They were frenzied, they were moved to tears. They loved him and he them. He did the impossible, he made Texans more proud to be from Texas.

My dad and Willie were drinking buddies. Here they are tight and on the town searching for trouble and material for honky-tonk ballads. Willie became an icon and Dad had a song covered by George Strait. Not too shabby.

Willie and Dad don’t talk much anymore. I don’t think there was a falling out, I just think it’s hard to keep ties when you become famous. I would like it if Willie dropped in on dad as he’s not doing too well. But when you’re on the road 200 plus days of the year it’s not easy to reach back across those miles to the past

Willie turns 80 today and as we mourn another country music legend we are given a stark reminder of how great this music can be if given care and courage. A statue has been erected in Austin bit it’s not near time to write Willie off. He’s just released a new album, “Let’s Face The Music & Dance,” and he’s just announced dates at the Outside Lands festival here in San Francisco and a couple of shows at the Hollywood Bowl with fellow Texas- troubadour Lyle Lovett. The man who wrote “Crazy” will be on the road until his arthritis won’t allow him to hoist ol’ his signature guitar, Trigger.

Well, maybe a few more shows after that.

Wilie speaks out for local farmers, bio-fuel and yes, weed. These are not popular red state subjects but somehow coming from Willie skepticism is lowered and alternative possibilities are embraced. Natalie Maines could learn a lot from her fellow Texan on the nuances of self-expression without torching your fan base.

Willie and Kristfferon are the last Highwaymen staring. Both still out there in the night doing their thing their way. Transcending genre to become purely American music. Though he learned from the greats Hank, Jones , Lefty – Willie has more in common with the masters of the American songbook, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Sure Dylan brought a generation a voice but Willie did the unthinkable. He brought the hippies and rednecks together,

Let’s celebrate Willie by understanding what he means for music and be glade we were live when he vied to witness the transformation. Sure Music City does not reflect his legacy, it’s an industry not a preservation society. As Jason Isbell deftly tweeted “Hate to break it to y’all, but Nashville didn’t “ruin” country music. Lotta good burgers in this town; nobody forcing you to eat McDonald’s” Wilie knew this. He worked the burg line for hers before heeded back to Texas to try his own recipe. Americana and the thriving roots music community better reflects the legacy of Willie, Kristofferson, Cash and Waylon and the draft and love of music beyond trends or current fads. The business will always be there. Beans have to be put on the table. Touring vans don’t run on good will. But business should not be the driving force. That’s a sure road to crap.

Here’s to Willie. activist, actor, author, Texastentialist, and musical legend. Long may your flag wave, hoss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iESjQlCh87U